Conventional power detectors are used to monitor output power of transmit signals generated by transceiver systems operating in a transmit mode. The power detectors are also used to monitor received signals in a receive mode where a strength of the received signal is high enough. Typically the power detectors are located either after a power amplifier or after a transmit-receive switch. Designs of separate power detector blocks usually consume significant chip area and introduce extra loss, depending on the topology. The power detectors are also constrained by system specifications such that the power detectors do not affect performance when placed in signal paths.
It would be desirable to implement a transmit-receive switch with integrated power detection.